Marcia Mascoll

Feb 18, 2025 | channel4.com | Toby Bakare |Marcia Mascoll

By Toby Bakare and Marcia Mascoll 60 years ago today one of the most electrifying and significant debates in the history of the Cambridge Union took place. It was between literary sensation James Baldwin and the conservative thinker William Buckley – two Americans. The proposition:“The American dream is at the expense of the American Negro.”The BBC paid to televise the debate at the time. And it is now regarded as a critique of racial politics in America.